The use of stents in bodily lumen is well known. A stent is typically delivered in an unexpanded state to a desired location in a bodily lumen via a stent delivery device such as a catheter. Once the stent is at the desired bodily location, it is either expanded with a balloon or other suitable device or allowed to expand by, for example, withdrawing a restraining sheath.
Because a stent and stent delivery system often must be delivered through tortuous anatomy, it would be desirable for the stent delivery system to have a smooth transition of stiffness from the proximal end of the system to the distal end of the system. Less flexibility is desirable at the proximal end of the stent delivery system to allow for adequate pushability of the system. More flexibility is desirable at the distal end to ensure adequate trackability of the system.
There remains a need for stents as well as stent delivery systems including stents that provide for sufficient pushability and adequate trackability in vivo.
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Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72.